


Supermarket Kitten

by lswriting (pegion456)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24599386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pegion456/pseuds/lswriting
Summary: A grandmother let's her grandson have a kitten that was being given away at a local supermarket. Unfortunately, there is something wrong with the kitten.
Kudos: 1





	Supermarket Kitten

I know many people have picked up a free kitten or puppy from some stranger in a supermarket parking lot. I'm here to tell you why that isn't a good idea. 

My mom, Cindy, had taken my son, Billy, with her to the store before she brought him home after a dentist appointment. She'd called me and said that they would be a little late because she needed to get something for dinner. I told her not to let Billy get anything from the store because she wouldn't get Billy's sister anything. 

Some background on my mom. She is the type to pick favorites, and she has no problems letting the non-favorite know this. She'd done the same thing with my sister and me. Because of this my sister and I don't talk anymore. I'd always told myself I wouldn't let my children be treated like that, but my husband left me a single parent. For now, I needed help from my mom.

When my mom and Billy got to the store a man was standing near the entrance. He'd been holding a sign advertising free kittens. My son had been five at the time and an animal lover. He begged my mom for the kitten. She didn't believe in telling him no because according to her I neglected him. So she let Billy have the kitten. She did buy some cat food for the kitten, but it was the cheapest kind she could find. She told Billy that I could buy whatever else the kitten would need. She didn't tell me any of this until she brought Billy back home. 

Billy came running into the apartment hollering for me. I heard him shouting that grandma had gotten him a kitten. I was livid when I walked into the living room, and I saw Billy standing there holding the animal. 

It was one of the ugliest kittens I'd ever seen. The kitten was a dull gray with watery eyes, and the greasiest fur of any animal I'd ever been around. 

My mom walked into the living with a smug smile on her face. “Now don't get upset I didn't get him anything from the store. Someone was giving the kitten away by the front entrance.”

I glared, “You know exactly what I meant. That thing can't stay here. It's disgusting, and probably has some kind of disease.” As I was talking I saw the kitten look at me, and bare its teeth. I frowned as I took a closer look at it, but the animal turned away. 

“You can't take it away from Billy now. He's already attached to it,” she said in a voice that said I was a monster if I took the kitten away from my son. 

“He'll get over the loss. I can barely keep us fed much less paying a pet deposit, vet bills, and whatever else an animal needs,” I snapped at her grinding my teeth in anger.

Before we could argue farther Billy interrupted. 

“But, mom, Grandma said you wouldn't make me give him up,” Billy whined clutching the kitten to his chest.

“Billy, you know that's not true. I've told you that your grandma can't make promises for me. There's is no room here for an animal,” I told him watching as his eyes filled with tears. I felt angry and hurt that my mom kept trying to drive a wedge between me and my son.

“Oh, come on, Patricia, you never let the boy have any fun,” Cindy butted in, as usual, defending my son against me. 

I glare at her, “He's my son, not yours. I've told you repeatedly to ask me before you give him anything.”

She rolled her eyes at me, “If you wouldn't be such a grouch I would ask you, but you never let Billy have anything.”

I felt like I was about to explode from how angry I was but before I could say anything else my six-year-old daughter came into the room. 

“Mommy, what's wrong?” Lily asked as she stepped into the room. She spotted Billy holding the kitten, and she turned to look at me. 

“I thought you said we couldn't have a pet,” she was giving me a look as if I'd lied to her.

“I did say that, and that kitten is not staying,” I told her before looking at my son. 

Billy stomped his foot, “No, it's mine, and you can't take it away.” Billy took off to the back of the apartment, and I heard his bedroom door slam shut. 

“Now see what you've done. You've upset Billy,” Cindy snapped at me as she turned to go to him.

I stepped in front of her, “No, you've done enough damage for one day. Get out!” I pointed toward the front door, and Cindy tried to push past me.

“You can't keep me from my grandson,” she said stomping her foot as Billy had done.

“I can, and I will. Now get out before I call the cops,” I held my ground, and she finally seemed to get it through her head that I wasn't going to let her have her way this time. 

Cindy glared at me before she turned to look at Lily, “You better leave your brother's cat alone. I got that for him, not you.” With that said Cindy turned and stomped out the door slamming it shut behind her. 

I sighed and sat down on the couch. I buried my head in my hands and fought back tears. After a moment I felt a small hand touch the back of mine. I looked up, and Lily was standing in front of me crying. 

“Mom, why does Grandma hate me?” she asked in a small quivering voice. 

As she asked me that question I felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest. It was at that point that I realized the damage I'd let my mother cause. I'd justified letting her come around because I needed the help. Trying to raise two kids, and work a full-time job meant that there weren't enough hours in the day for me to get anything done. My mom helped fill that void, and for that reason alone I'd let her treat my daughter like garbage.

I pulled Lily into a hug, and we both cried for a while. I told myself that after today I was going to have to find another solution. For the sake of Lily's mental health, I needed to cut her grandma out of her life. 

As I comforted Lily, Billy came out of his room. He was no longer holding the kitten instead he was holding his stuffed turtle that he'd had since he was a baby. 

“Mommy, are you mad at me?” Billy asked as he watched me comfort his sister.

“No, baby, I'm not mad at you,” I told him holding out my hand for him. 

Billy ran over to us, and I pulled him into the embrace. Now all three of us were crying. As I held my children I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and saw the kitten was staring at us. As I stared back something about the small animal seemed off to me. There seemed to be an almost human-like expression staring back at me. 

After a bit, the kitten wandered off, and I turned my attention back to the children. 

“Are you feeling better?” I asked as I lightly pushed them back so that I could look at their faces.

Lily nodded, “I'm sorry, Mama, I didn't mean to make everyone cry.”

I looked at her, and I could feel the love I felt for her filling my chest. Lily was the type of child who tried to take on everyone's burdens. 

“Honey, you didn't make anyone do anything,” I told her as I wiped the tears from her face. 

Billy was watching us before he looked at me. “Are we going to get rid of my kitten?”

I sighed as I nodded, “I'm afraid so. We can't have animals in the apartment, and I can't afford to feed anything else.”

Billy pouted, “But grandma said that it wouldn't be a problem for us to take care of a cat.”

“Regardless of what your grandma told you I'm the one that has to buy everything a cat would need,” I told him. At five it was past time for Billy to learn that he couldn't get whatever grandma told him he could. 

“Maybe I could help with buying what Waffles would need,” Billy said earnestly. 

I couldn't help a small laugh, “Thank you, but you worry about keeping your room clean. I'll worry about everything else.” 

I sighed when I heard that Billy had already decided on a name for the kitten. I knew that would make it even harder for him to give the animal up. 

Billy heaved a sigh, “All right.” He said as he turned and left the living room dragging his feet. 

Lily had been listening to us, and as she watched her brother leave she said to me, “That kitten is gross anyway.”

I heard a small hiss, and I looked toward the kitchen doorway. The kitten was sitting in the doorway staring at us. It looked almost angry in a way an animal shouldn't be able to show. 

“I agree. Most kittens are cute, but this one is not,” as I spoke I kept my eyes on the kitten. As I agreed with Lily the kitten bared its teeth at me before it ran off down the hallway. 

Lily wrinkled her nose when the kitten came into her line of sight. “I think we should get rid of it today.”

I laughed, “It's too late today, but first thing tomorrow before I go to work I'll drop it off at the shelter.”

“Good,” Lily said as she pulled away from me. I watched as Lily head down the hallway herself. 

Once I was alone I got up off the couch and headed to the kitchen to start supper. I'd put pork chops in the fridge the night before, so all I had to do was put Shake and Bake on them and put them in the oven. With that done I peeled and cut up some potatoes then put them in a pot. As I was filling the pot with water I felt a sudden sharp pain across my ankle. 

I cried out in surprise, and I looked down to find the kitten sitting at my feet. When it saw me looking at it the kitten hissed and ran off again. I was getting pretty uncomfortable with that animal around. There was something not right about it, but I couldn't pin down what it was. 

I finished preparing supper, and while everything was cooking I made my way down the hallway off of the living room. I looked in on Lily, and she was laying on her bedroom floor coloring. Then I moved onto Billy's room. I glanced in and saw him trying to get the kitten to come to him. The kitten was ignoring him. Billy sighed in frustration, and he got up off the bed to grab the kitten. When it saw Billy coming toward it the kitten hissed again before running from the room. 

Billy saw me standing in the doorway. “Mom, Waffles won't let me pet him.”

“He's probably scared. After all, this is a new place for him, and it's probably the first time he's been away from mom.”

Billy gave a forlorn sigh, “I guess.” Billy dramatically flopped on his bed and sighed again. 

I hid a smile at the way Billy was acting. “Supper will be ready in a little bit,” I told him as I back out of the doorway. I didn't receive a response, but I didn't expect to with Billy in the mood he was in. I made a mental note to make sure Billy washed his hands before he ate supper. I was afraid he was going to get pink eye or something from the dirty animal. 

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, and before too long it was time for the children to go to bed. After the usual complaints of not being tired, and asking for one more story I finally got them to go to bed. 

I headed to the living room to watch some news wanting to relax a bit before I went to bed. When I turned to the news I saw that they were talking about a family that had been killed pretty close to me. I turned the volume up a bit, and the news anchor was saying that the police thought it was someone close to the family. There had been no sign of forced entry, and there was very little evidence found. The news anchor was also saying that they didn't have a cause of death yet, but they were asking for anyone with information to come forward. I turned off the news with a sigh knowing I wasn't going to be able to relax now. 

Being on my own with kids I had a bad habit of thinking about everything that could go wrong. Even if the event I was worried about didn't apply to my situation. This time, though, was the first time such a violent event had happened so close to us. Other than my mother I couldn't think of anyone that might want to harm us, so I told myself I was being silly for worrying so much. With that thought in mind, I got up from the couch and headed for my room.

When I got to my bedroom I looked around for the kitten, but it looked like I was alone. There was something about the kitten that made me uneasy. Like most people, I thought kittens were adorable, but this particular kitten was far from adorable. I'd been watching it throughout the night, and I don't once remember it cleaning itself as most cats would. So I could see why it was smelly and greasy. I was also afraid that it might have fleas, but I couldn't get close enough to check. I hated breaking my son's heart, but I was convinced more than ever to get rid of the animal. I sighed and shook off the uneasy feeling as I turned to get my nightclothes out of the dresser. 

As I was taking my shirt off I felt like I was being watched. I let my shirt drop back down, and I looked around my room. I saw the kitten sitting on top of my dresser staring at me. I don't know where it had been hiding, but now I felt like the kitten was checking me out. I glanced at the door, and I rolled my eyes at myself when I saw that I'd left the door open. I walked over to the dresser and reached out to grab the kitten. Instead, the kitten hissed and swiped at me before it jumped off the dresser and ran from the room.  
I frowned down at my bleeding hand. I didn't know if there was something wrong with the kitten, or if it was just scared about being in a new place. I grabbed some tissues off the top of the dresser and pressed them to the bleeding cuts on the back of my hand. It didn't take long for the cuts to stop bleeding. I threw the tissue away and went to shut my bedroom door. I also locked the door for good measure not wanting the kitten getting back in while I was changing. Once I was ready for bed I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. After doing that and using the bathroom I checked on the kids.  
Story break  
Lily was asleep with half of her covers on the floor, so I straightened them up for her. Then I kissed her good night and moved on to Billy's room. When I got to his room I saw the kitten laying at the foot of his bed. I moved farther into the room, and again the kitten hissed at me and ran off. I watched as it ran from the room. That thing was the grouchiest animal I'd ever seen. I knew animals needed to adjust to their environment, but in my experience, most of them hid for a few days. There was something strange going on I thought as I stood over my son's bed. I swallowed my uneasiness, and straightened Billy's covers and kissed him goodnight as well. 

I left Billy's room, and I pulled the door mostly closed leaving it slightly ajar. Lily's door was as I had left it, so I moved on to the living room. I checked the front door making sure it was locked. Then I looked around the apartment trying to reassure myself that I was indeed alone. Not seeing anything I pushed the discomfort I was feeling out of my mind. 

I left the living room and headed down the hallway to my room. I hadn't seen the kitten since I left Billy's room. I was wondering where it had gone when I got to my room and turned to look back down the hallway. At the entrance to the living room, the kitten was watching me again. I stared at it for a moment, but when it kept staring back at me I forced myself to go to bed. I usually left the door open so that I could hear if the kids needed me in the middle of the night. I wanted to close the door tonight, but I figured I could deal with the mangy cat coming in while I slept. 

Despite the unease I'd been feeling it didn't take me long to fall asleep. I was awoken sometime later when I felt movement on the bed. I was startled for a moment until I remembered the kitten. I opened my eyes enough to see what the kitten was doing. It was sitting on my nightstand staring at me. The kitten meowed, and when I didn't respond it jumped off of the nightstand and left the room. 

I relaxed back into the bed hoping I could go back to sleep. Unfortunately, I couldn't relax, so I sat up thinking about getting some water. As I sat there I started hearing a strange noise coming from the living room. I frowned and got up from the bed. I moved over to the bedroom door, and I looked down the dark hallway. There wasn't much light to see by, so I stepped out into the hallway. 

I made my way down to the living room. As I moved quietly down the hallway the sound was getting clearer. I noticed that it was coming from one of the kid's rooms and not the living room like I first thought. I looked in on Billy first, but he was still asleep and he was alone in his room. 

I moved on to Lily's room, and this time when I pushed the door opened I saw a shadow standing over her bed. I reached in to turn the light on, but nothing happened when I flipped the switch. At the sound of the switch, the shadow standing over Lily turned to look at me. I heard a familiar hissing sound before the shadow started moving my way. I froze because that was the same sound I'd been hearing from the kitten all night.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked trying to keep my voice down so I didn't wake Lily.

The shadow didn't answer, but it kept moving toward me. I backed out of the room trying to get it away from Lily. Once the shadow was far enough away, and to close to me for comfort I turned and ran for my room. 

I heard a weird rasping noise behind me that sounded like the creature was trying to shout at me. I fought the urge to looked behind me, and I almost fell as I darted into my room. I'd left my phone on the nightstand. I was hoping I could allude the creature long enough to call for help. 

That was not to be, though, because I felt something slam into my back. I fell onto my bed with a loud cry. The creature followed me down, and I could smell something that smelled like rotten sewage. The creature's skin felt slimy, and I could feel that slime rubbing off onto my exposed shoulders. Then to my horror, I felt a tentacle-like appendage moving under my shirt. I bucked trying to knock it off, but despite its lightweight, I couldn't budge it. 

I started shouting at the creature to let me go. It ignored me, and I felt something sinking into my back just below my shoulder blades. I started thrashing harder which caused the strange thing in my back to sink in farther. I felt like I was being drained of energy, and as much as I fought I could feel myself losing consciousness. Before I could go under completely light flooded the room. 

The creature on top of me let out a roar, and I felt something being yanked out of my back. I cried out in pain thrashing again. This time I felt the creature slide off my back, and I scrambled off of the bed. I looked toward the door, and I saw Lily standing there. I hurried over and snatched her up. Then I turned to look at my bed. I saw the most disgusting creature I'd ever seen withering around like the light was burning it. It was a pale orange color with a long tentacle coming out of its face. There was something that looked like a suction cup at the end of the tentacle. I shuddered when I realized that that suction cup had been what I had been feeling on my back. 

I started backing out of the room with Lily. I was worried about her silence, but now wasn't the time to see if she was all right. I got two steps out of the room before the creature flipped over and stood up. It was the size of a very large dog, and I could see that it could walk on two legs or four. The creature was now growling at me and moving our way. When it stepped off the bed Lily shrieked and hid her face in my neck. 

“Mommy, I'm scared,” she whimpered clutching my neck. 

I hugged her closer keeping my eyes on the creature. “I know, baby, I am too.”

“What do you want from us?” I shouted at the creature. 

In response, the creature let out a whining noise, and I watched as it hit the light with the tentacle. Lily and I both flinched at the sudden darkness. I turned and moved as fast as I could to Billy's room. I fell into the room slamming the door shut behind me. I dropped Lily, and she gave a small cry as she hit the floor.

“I'm sorry, baby, are you all right?” I frantically asked as I scrambled to my feet. I locked the door and turned toward Billy's bed. I was horrified when I found it empty.

“Lily,  
do you know where your brother is?” I asked her as I ran my eyes around the room. 

She shook her head, “Is the monster going to get us?” She asked me her voice quivering.  
“I'm going to do my best to prevent that,” I told her. I didn't want to scare Lily, but I also didn't want to promise something I could do. 

I motioned for Lily to look under the bed, and I moved over to the closet. I was getting worried about the lack of noise from the creature. I didn't know if it was going to break the door down, or if it had left. 

I opened the closet door, and I dropped to my knees in relief when I saw Billy sitting on the floor. 

“Billy, honey, are you all right?” I asked as I reached in to pull him out. 

Billy fought me, “No, mama, if I come out the monster might eat me.”

I frowned at his protests, “Billy, did the monster hurt you?” I asked looking him over for injuries. 

Billy shrugged, “I was sleeping, and I heard you yelling at someone. Is a monster here?”

I nodded, “There's something `here to hurt us, but don't worry I'll protect you.”

“Now let me see if the monster hurt you,” I asked Billy as I tried to get him out of the closet. 

He wouldn't leave the closet, but Billy let me turn him around. I pulled up his shirt and I gasped when I saw a suction mark under his shoulder blade. Somehow the creature had attacked Billy without him waking up. Before I could ask any farther questions I heard a scratching noise at the window. I looked over, and I heard Lily screaming as she also looked toward the noise. 

The creature had left the apartment and had gone around to the back of the building where Billy's room was. 

“Lily, Billy, we need to go now!” I exclaimed as I tugged Billy out of the closet. Luckily he didn't fight me, and as we moved out of the closet I heard the window break. 

Lily had run over to unlock the door, and I grabbed her by the arm. I pulled both children with me as we ran from the room. The creature was screaming in anger as we ran from the room, and I heard a thud as it launched itself through the window. 

“Hurry, he's coming for us,” I urged the kids on as I heard the creature getting to its feet. The glass was a cracking noise as the creature started moving toward the door.

I looked back as we got to the living room. I saw that the creature had come out of Billy's room and was now heading our way. Despite it still being dark outside I could see the creature because of its skin color. This also served to make it more terrifying. It looked like we were being chased by something that was on fire.

We made it to the front door and I looked back and saw that it was getting closer. I got the deadbolt unlocked, and I pushed the kids out first. I knew I couldn't follow them, and I looked at Lily. “Get help. I'll hold him off.”

“But, mama...,” Lily started to say tears running down her face.

I didn't have a chance to reassure her because the creature had caught up to us. It slammed against my back again forcing me up against the front door. The door slammed shut and I heard Billy, and Lily screaming my name. 

I screamed and jabbed my elbow back hoping to hit something vital. The creature grunted and moved back a bit in shock. This gave me the opening I needed. I slipped out from between the creature and the front door. I ran over to the kitchen, and I hurried over to the knife rack I had by the sink. I grabbed up the biggest knife I could find. A weapon in hand I spun around prepared to face the creature now. It was gone again. Before I could start hunting around for it I heard sirens coming my way. 

I ran out into the living room and threw the door open. I expected to be pounced on again. Instead, I was able to run out of the apartment, and I made my way to the parking lot. I wondered who'd called the police because the kids hadn't had enough time to do so themselves. 

I sank onto the curb trying to get my breath back. I was worried about the creature coming back, but I hoped that being out in the open would protect me from farther attacks. As I sat there I could feel the adrenaline wearing off. The wound on my back was started to throb, and I was feeling light-headed. I was worried about what might have been injected into me or my son. I didn't have long with my thoughts before the police showed up, and a neighbor brought my children out to me. 

The police took our statements and searched the apartment. They pretty much shrugged their shoulders. The police said it was probably a wild animal that had gotten. When I insisted otherwise then they started asking about drugs and were asking my kids if they felt safe at home. I let the matter drop so that my kids didn't have to go through farther harassment.

It was the same at the hospital we went to for the puncture marks. The doctor that examined us started asking questions that made it sound like I had made the marks. Even though it would be physically impossible for me to reach the mark on my back. On top of that, the marks on both of us didn't look anything like a needle mark. There was a large hole in the middle of the bruising made by suction. I'd never seen such a mark, and I doubt the doctor had ever seen such an injury himself. I had to drop the matter because as with the police, the doctor started talking about abuse. 

This was about a year ago, and we've moved from that apartment. I no longer speak to my mother, and the kids are still having nightmares. I found out later that the kitten was a shapeshifter. I was desperate for answers, so I started posting my story on anonymous websites. After months of talking to people, I had someone send me a message. They told me that I had seen a shapeshifter. From what they told me the man that had given the kitten to my mom had been the shifter's handler. He would give the kitten to unsuspecting victims, and then when nighttime came the shifter would start sucking fluids out of a person's body. This fluid would then be placed into a container. The shifter's handler used this fluid as food. Sometimes the shifter would go too far and would kill its victims. This is what had happened to the family that had been found murdered. Once one person died the shifter would kill the rest of the family to keep them quiet. I told them that didn't make any sense, and they told me it didn't need to make sense for me. The person said that the shifter had human-like intelligence and that I was lucky I didn't have to use the knife on it because it was known to come back for the people that hurt it.

I then tried to get more information about the handler. The person who gave me this information refused to tell me any more information about them. They told me that I was better off not knowing and that I needed to stop asking questions. That if it got back to the handler that someone was asking questions about them then they would send the shifter back to silence the person. I was scared that one day these predictions would come true, but so far I haven't seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. 

So that's my story about why it's not a good idea to get a pet from strangers at the store. We were lucky to survive with no lasting damage. The upside about all of this is that the kids have stopped asking about getting a pet. I think they associate the arrival of the kitten with the monster showing up. I've told them that the kitten ran away because the monster scared it, and not because Waffles was, in fact, the monster. Maybe when they're older I can explain what happened to Waffles.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was also posted on r/nosleep under Lscreativecrochet. Constrictive criticism is welcomed. I know I need more practice at writing.


End file.
